Psychoanalysis Today Origins of Psychoanalysis

Chapter 2 Although popular for decades, Psychoanalysis is rarely practiced in its classical form today Much of Freuds initial theoretical framework has been modified, some has been discarded Psychoanalysis represents the foundation of what we today know as the science of Psychology Rise of brief therapies

Origins of Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Originator of Psychoanalysis Favored son Ambivalent towards parents Initially trained as a Physician Began research career studying animal biology, cocaine

Origins of Psychoanalysis (cont.)

Trained in Hypnosis (Joseph Breuer) Became interested in Breuers talking cure Breuer and Freud collaborated, later separated owing to conceptual differences
Freuds emphasis on the role of sexuality

Emphasis on Unconscious Forces

Hysteria
Greek for wandering uterus Believed to occur in women Manifested by paralysis in a limb, loss of feeling, amnesia, etc. La belle indifference Terminology reflects the long history of sexism in medicine Now uncommon, called Hypochondrias or Conversion Disorder

The Case of Anna O.

Originally a patient of Joseph Breuer Twenty-one years old at the time Experienced glove anesthesia of her right arm and, partial paralysis of right leg, impaired vision, nausea, difficulty understanding her native language, absence dissociation? Breuer noticed she often muttered same words during her absences Breuer repeated the words to Anna O. under hypnosis

The Case of Anna O. (cont.)

Under hypnosis, Anna O. recounted stories of her fathers death, etc. Emotional retelling of storied paralysis lifted Breuer concluded that the hypnosis had a cathartic effect
Catharsis defined as an emotional release

Psychoanalytic Terminology
Freud used hypnosis to assist patients in remembering repressed traumatic memories
During trauma a wish is evoked that goes against the ego ideal Rendered unconscious to render them less threatening or painful

Breuer terminates therapy, Anna responded with a phantom pregnancy Breuer avoids cathartic method in future

Freud supposed that unconscious forces were at play since patients consciously wanted to change
Forces of which the individual is unaware

Coined the term resistance to describe phenomenon

Psychoanalytic Terminology (cont.)

Most memories not available in consciousness Freud asserts they are repressed by unconscious forces Repression not necessarily harmful Can be protective and functional However, too much of a good thing can cause problems Repressing painful memories difficult and energy intensive
Takes away from available energy pool Still, tension escapes in an altered form

Free Association
However, because Freud found that not all patients could be hypnotized, he developed an additional technique Free Association
Patient verbalizes whatever comes to mind No matter how trivial, unpleasant, etc. Eventually will lead to thoughts, feelings, etc. associated with unconscious conflict (follow chain of associations) Analyst will help patient interpret content of free association reflect the associations back to client Pauses or flood of material may imply presence of important content Freudian slips offer important meaning

Dream Analysis
Freud believed dreams represented unsatisfied wishes Wishes that may be unacceptable to the conscious mind, society, etc. Patient describes the manifest dream
The part that can be remembered in consciousness

Dream Symbols
House Smooth fronted house House w/ledges King and Queen Little animals Children Playing with children Going on a journey Clothes Going Up Stairs Bath = = = = = = = = = = = Human body Male body Female body Parents Children Genitals Guess? Dying Nakedness Having sex Birth

Analyst assists patient to access the latent dream

True meaning

Manifest dream masks meaning of latent dream because of the threatening nature of the latent content

Drive
Drive refers to an instinct or impulse
Implied an innateness Attempted to avoid pure reductionism to physiological forces (mind has drives as well as the body) Unity of mind and body (vs. Cartesian duality)
Source (stimulus or need) Impetus (amount of energy/intensity of need) Aim (goal or purpose) Object (person/object in environment needed to satisfy need)

Two Main Drives

Eros
Refers to life impulses, reproduction Survival instincts Tied to sexual drive libido

Freuds term for psychic energy derived from sexuality, a biological drive Emphasized the role that sexual gratification plays throughout the lifespan

Thanatos

The death impulse The source of aggressiveness Our ultimate resolution with our tension with death

Sexual Repression and Hysteria

What do you know about Victorian Austria?
Non-reproductive sexuality (masturbation/homosexuality) are perverse Repression of fundamental drives Sexual act beastly
Tolerated because of shortcomings of men, need for reproduction

And Yet
Cultural renaissance in philosophy, music, literature More and more, people were questioning prohibitions against sex and sexuality
Freud proposes pleasure as an important underlying function of sex

Natural excretory functions viewed with shame

Prohibition of sexual behaviors leads to anxiety, fear, worry, repression, and hysteria

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud said that we possessed multiple erogenous zones
Body areas that provide pleasure

Oral Stage
From birth to Age 1 Breast-feeding with mother Crying to meet needs Babies put everything in their mouths The mouth is source of pleasure or conflict
Source of understanding/discovery of the world Prohibited behaviors (biting, thumb sucking)

The importance of various erogenous zones changes as we grow and develop Move from autoeroticism to reproductive sexuality

Anal Stage
Age 1 to Age 2 Pleasure derived from the anus Greater focus on defecating Children begin potty-training
Conversion of involuntary to voluntary behavior First attempt controlling instinctual impulse

Phallic Stage
Between Age 3 and Age 6 Focus on genital
Pleasurable physiological sensations Conflictual feelings arise

Derive praise from parents for completing potty training Punishment often targets buttocks

Children notice differences between girls and boys May fantasize about sexual acts and masturbate

Phallic Stage (cont.)

Oedipus Complex
Greek tragedy written by Sophocles
Oedipus kills his father and weds his mother Oedipus unaware of the taboos he has transgressed Oedipus blinds himself upon learning of his deeds

Phallic Stage
Oedipus Complex
Boys experience castration anxiety or fear that affection for Mom will be met by emasculation by Dad
A mixture of love and affection for father, but also fears fathers reprisals

Children have unconscious desire to possess the opposite-sexed parent and do away with the same-sexed parent
Not literally sexual

Girl version called Electra Complex

Not Freuds term, considered Oedipus complex as universal

Boys are fond of mothers Girls are Daddys little girl

Girls experience penis envy where they feel inferior to males for lack of a penis
Not having a penis is their castration anxiety

Phallic Stage (cont.)

Oedipus Complex
Boys identify with their Fathers to overcome wishes for Mother Eventually girls identify with Mothers to overcome anger at not having a penis Both boys and girls are then prepared to later seek out members of the opposite sex for marriage and procreation

Latency Period
Sexual forces driven dormant by psychic forces
Culturally unacceptable sexual thoughts/behaviors are channeled into other activities (sports, intellectual interests, peer relationships)

Preference for same-sex peers Modern critics say that children simply learn to hide their sexuality at this point

Genital Period
Around the age of puberty Return of overt sexual and aggressive desires Emergence of interest in the opposite sex Sexual needs satisfied through socially acceptable means Lieben & arbeiten
To love in an appropriate way and to contribute as a productive member of society

Psychosexual Stages of Development

According to Freud, this developmental trajectory was not negotiable It is inevitable that we all must negotiate these stages of development despite the obstacles presented in each stage Individuals who experience problems along the way will have adult personality characteristics represented by that stage

Fixations
Lingering effects of a psychosexual stage is called a fixation in that stage

Fixations (cont.)
Oral Fixation
Dependent on others Optimism, trusting, possibly gullible

Anal Fixation
Possibly orderly, miserly, and obstinate Freud believed that all abnormal sexual behaviors were at one time acceptable for children but represent fixations on early stages of development

Psychoanalytic Structure of Personality

Freuds terminology of id, ego, and superego came relatively late in his career The personality is a single entity comprised of these three facets
Not divided, separate, or fragmented

Id
First personality structure that develops Characterizes our instinctual, hard wired responses, reactions, drives, etc.
I am hungry etc.

Primary process thinking

Hallucinating or forming a mental representation of an object to satisfy its needs

Rather, they are different processes that regulate and manage our thoughts feelings and actions

Never known to us directly in consciousness Operates on the pleasure principle or a desire for immediate tension reduction

Ego
The referee Structure that balances the needs of the id against the demands and expectations of society Secondary process thinking
Cognitive and perceptual skills that distinguish fact from fantasy, allowing the ego to satisfy id needs in an appropriate manner

Superego
Representation of our societal rules, morays, taboos, etc. Consists of two components
Conscience or capacity for self-evaluation, criticism, and reproach scolds ego, creates guilt when social codes are violated Ego-ideal or an idealized self-image in the eyes of societal rules

Functions on reality principle

Satisfy tensions id needs at times it is safe and adaptive to do so in an appropriate manner

Psychoanalytic Structure of Personality

Life is a constant juggling act between needs of the id and the dictates of society Human Development creates the opportunity for the emergence of superego and ego Life experiences lead to the degree that ego can keep the balls in the air between the instinctual needs of the id and the internalized societal demands represented by the superego

Defense Mechanisms
When the ego cant effectively manage the demands of the id and superego
The ego has many defense mechanisms in its toolkit

Defense Mechanisms (cont).

Mechanism Repression Denial Reaction Formation Regression Characteristic
Blocking wish or desire from consciousness Refusing to believe reality

Example
Being unaware of deep-seated anger Unwilling to admit to having illness Killing an enemy with kindness Re-emergence of bedwetting

Short-term solutions Over-utilization leads to problems in the long run

Expressing an impulse by its opposite Returning to an earlier state (mostly in children)

Defense Mechanisms (cont).

Mechanism Rationalization Identification Displacement Projection Characteristic
Dealing with an emotion intellectually to avoid the upset Modeling behavior from someone else

Defense Mechanisms (cont).

Mechanism Sublimation Characteristic
Re-channeling an impulse into a socially desirable outlet

Example
Making the excuse that everybody does it, so why feel guilty Modeling ones father or mother

Example
Becoming a gynecologist to satisfy sexual urges

Satisfying an impulse with Kicking the dog after a substitute object getting in trouble with boss Attributing an unconscious impulse, attitude, or behavior to another Assuming someone else is frightened when it is actually you who are frightened (scapegoating)

Psychoanalysis
Therapeutic technique developed by Freud Intended to help individuals who developed neuroses while confronting conflicts between id and superego
Emotional disturbance, not necessarily debilitating Anna O. on the extreme end of the spectrum

Psychoanalysis
Transference was an important point in the psychoanalysis
Positive (friendly, affectionate towards analyst) Negative (hostile, angry towards analyst)

Being neurotic is not an absolute level

Gradationsa spectrum of neuroses

The point where a patient had transferred emotions for ones parents or important relationships onto the psychoanalyst Working through the transference was important step Counter-transference was when the analyst developed feelings for the patient

Criticisms of Classical Psychoanalysis

Seduction Theory
Initially, Freud held that neuroses were the result of childhood sexual abuse Later rejected this theory owing to criticism from contemporary society Today, this controversy is mirrored in the repressed memory debate

Criticisms of Classical Psychoanalysis

Gender
Freuds writing focused on male development, implying that female development either mirrored male development or was inferior
Anatomy is destiny Woman as the deficient man, lacking a penis Neuroses and hysteria = inadequate superego psychoanalysis is not a recommendation for a patriarchal society, but the analysis of one
Cultural construction of gender and gender roles

Criticisms of Classical Psychoanalysis

Empirical validation
Biology does not support female as castrated male Unconscious processes are not falsifiable
Difficult to operationalize constructs

Oral and anal personality types supported in both normal and psychiatric populations

Analysis and Evaluation

Philosophy
Assumptions Evaluation (coherence, relevance, comprehensiveness, compellingness)

Science
Assumptions Evaluation (verifiability, prediction, compatibility, simplicity, usefullness)

Applications
Assessment, Research, Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy (Scholarly, Ethical, Curative)